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| Rembrandt |
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:1-3 is an introduction provided by Luke. Luke is preparing us for the parable of the prodigal son. The rule of God has a certain kind of prodigality, illustrated in the way Jesus extended hospitality to sinners. Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” This introduction shows that the parables to come explain the attitude of Jesus to those who were religious and social outcasts, the tax collectors, and sinners. They explain the inclusion of this group in the table fellowship of Jesus. Thus, one can never overestimate the importance of gospel narratives that place Jesus at a table because whenever Jesus is around food, the story shows him serving up lessons about the reign of God. introduce two signature teaching methods that Jesus employs to illustrate what God’s reign is like — indiscriminately sharing food and using an occasion of controversy as the starting point for telling parables. The controversy emerges from the Pharisees and scribes’ concern that Jesus openly welcomes sinners to eat together with him. This flies in the face of practices that regulate the purity of table fellowship. To enact such hospitality is to initiate a kind of generosity that his critics considered as time wasted on the unrighteous or, even worse, crosses the line into unacceptable religious behavior with sinners. Jesus enacts a gracious hospitality that is prodigal. However, his prodigality signals that religious rituals and rules are a waste of time if they do not edify and encourage relationships of care among people. By addressing this group, Jesus revealed the nature of the participation in salvation that his message of the nearness of the rule of God effected in those who received it. The participation is from God, and it means the rescuing of the lost. Those who accept the message are no longer outcasts. They share in the salvation of the rule of God. The presence of salvation relates to the removal of the barrier that separates from God. The turning of Jesus to tax gatherers and sinners makes it clear that sinners are included in the saved community.[1] The criticism of the behavior of Jesus at meals arose from his conduct and that of his disciples. When he accepted invitations from others, he made known his readiness to grant fellowship with him to those who issued the invitation. Some contemporaries thought this to be especially scandalous in some cases because by his participation the table fellowship that he granted or accepted became a sign of the presence of the rule of God that he proclaimed and a sign of the acceptance of the other participants into the future community of salvation.[2]
Luke sets tax collectors and sinners in opposition with the Pharisees and the scribes. The tax collectors and sinners coming to listen, while the Pharisees and scribes come grumbling. These two verses bring together two important themes that have been building throughout the gospel. First, the conclusion of the parables of chapter 14 ends with “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” (14:35). The parables in Chapter 15 at least imply the continued emphasis on hearing what Jesus is saying (and by implication, acting upon it). As one who “welcomes sinners and eats with them,” Jesus is also one who teaches those “sinners,” and they “listen” to him, thus showing their role as disciples or followers of Jesus (cf. 14:25-35). Second, the accusation of the Pharisees and the scribes, of Jesus both welcoming and eating with sinners, echoes a previous accusation in Luke (5:30-32) where the same group asks Jesus’ disciples about these actions. There Jesus proclaims, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance” (5:31-32). This conversation occurs immediately after Jesus has called Levi, the tax collector, to be his disciple (5:27-29) and Levi hosts a banquet in Jesus’ honor. While the physical setting is not the same in chapter 15 in that Jesus is not pictured at a meal with either tax collectors and sinners (5:29-39) or with Pharisees and scribes (7:36-50), the theme of hospitality and welcoming pervades chapters 14-16 (e.g., 14:21-23 and 16:19-31). As Luke sets the scene for this parable, Jesus may purposely test the boiling point of the increasingly disturbed scribes and Pharisees who were keeping a close eye on Jesus' growing popularity. Just as the Pharisees criticized the behavior of Jesus, this father "welcomes sinners and eats with them." Immediately preceding this, Luke relates two other parables of "lostness." In 15:4-7, the parable of the "lost sheep," and in 15:8-10, the parable of the "lost coin" introduce themes also found in verses 11-32. By telling these parables in 15:1-10 Jesus re-emphasizes that the accusation that he eats with sinners is no accusation at all; in fact, this true statement is at the heart of the fulfillment of the calling of Jesus in his ministry. As Luke narrates it, Jesus’ purpose in this setting is to show the Pharisees and scribes that they, too, should listen to the overarching message speaks of the joy one feels when finds and welcomes back one lost sheep, one lost coin or one lost son into its fold, purse or family. All three of these parables serve as Jesus' response to the nasty grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes concerning the behavior of Jesus toward tax collectors and sinners. Jesus' attitudes and actions toward this group are the problem. He not only welcomes them to his band of followers; he also welcomes them to his table. The straight-laced righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes found Jesus' behavior quite suspicious, even scandalous. They could never condone social contact with such "sinners." In the face of this stern self-righteousness, the prodigal son parable offers pointed commentary through the unhesitating, exuberant joy exhibited by the father and the wrong-headed, hardhearted attitude of the elder brother.
3 So he told them this parable. In fact, of course, Luke will record three parables that illustrate the mission of Jesus. In fact, many scholars call this Chapter 15 the heart of the Gospel of Luke. Luke introduces a series of parables that illustrates Jesus' habit of eating with sinners. They contribute to one of the major themes of Luke, namely, the love and mercy of God toward sinful humanity, as well as the call to repentance. From now to the end of the travel account Luke reveals a special concern for the outcasts. This is why Jesus is popular with the crowds, but also attracts complaints from the Pharisees and scholars. For Luke, Jesus goes in quest of things that are lost, which illustrates God's concern for sinners. Chapter 15 of the gospel of Luke contains the setting of three parallel parables that are actually three parts of one parable (15:3). The emphasis of the parable is on restoring relationships between God and others. By gaining a greater understanding of the setting of Jesus’ comments about a lost sheep and a lost coin which we find in the first two scenes of the parable, we can better comprehend the significance of the actions of various groups and individuals (“sinners,” Pharisees and scribes, and Jesus) in this gospel. Luke 15:1-10 highlights the motifs of sacrificial pursuit, restoration and rejoicing, and how they accentuate theological and sociological themes of Jesus’ ministry as told in Luke’s gospel.
Part of the power these stories generate depends on the three different degrees of narrative style Luke employs. On the first level, there is the narrative of the author to the reader. The second level of narration recalls that Jesus is also speaking to a specific gathered audience of scribes and Pharisees, tax collectors and sinners. Finally, on the third level of narration, there is the interior dialogue of the characters that inhabit the parables themselves.
Among her many observations in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard observes that God “churns out the intricate texture of least works that is the world with a spendthrift genius and an extravagance of care.” Perhaps divine genius becomes even more spendthrift, divine care even more extravagant, as God steadfastly seeks to restore relationships whenever their covenantal texture unravels.
Spendthrift, extravagant ... prodigal.
Luke 15:11-32 is the parable of the prodigal son. The source is the material unique to Luke. The body of this lengthy parable contains numerous fascinating nuances that testify to Luke's storytelling prowess and finesse. A brief overview can catch only a few of the author's juicy tidbits. Note how Luke uses Hellenistic images and information to add realism to the story. In context, there is the additional emphasis on God's joy at finding what was lost. Jesus, the kingdom preacher, expresses the divine willingness to accept the repentant sinner into the kingdom. Jesus is the herald of a loving Father who shows mercy to the repentant sinner. The heart of the message of Jesus was announcing the nearness of the divine reign, but Jesus called this God the heavenly Father. In Jesus, God shows himself to be the Father who is ready to forgive those who turn to him.[3] Jesus regarded the loving and saving address of God to us, and particularly to the needy and the lost among us, as the purpose of his sending. He believed that by his sending, the Father was addressing the lost. In this parable, Jesus is defending addressing his message and work to the lost. The parable portrays God as the one who seeks what is lost and who in so doing displays the self-attesting love of the Father. The search reveals the divine love that takes place through the work and message of Jesus.[4]
11 “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ Luke uses Greek legal language to describe the younger son's demand to his father. Although it was not unusual for a father to distribute property in advance, as in the case of marriage, Jesus strongly implies that the younger son’s demand is disrespectful, rebellious and foolish — a clear violation of the commandment to honor one’s parents (Exodus 20:12). In a culture where family and community always took priority over the individual, the kid’s self-centered demand would have raised the eyebrows of those hearing the parable for the first time. Yet despite the legalese (or perhaps because of it), scholars still wrangle over what exactly was due to a son who would make such a demand. In addition, we wonder what legal and moral responsibilities would remain between this father and son once this division of property occurred. Whatever the cultural standards or legal implications associated with early inheritance, the younger son cast them aside. Therefore, he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had, that is, he converted his inheritance to cash, and traveled to a distant country, left home, family and any obligations far behind, and there he squandered his property in dissolute (aswtwV can be "extravagant" or "reckless") living. The fall of the son is rapid, complete, and catastrophic. The boy's fortunes deteriorate. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 Therefore, he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. This son has spirit. He moves on to get a job, even as a temporary hireling, working not for wages, but only for the food he needs. Note that only the extreme desperateness of his situation that finally brings this son to consider returning home. Luke's language in verse 14-16 is coarse and colloquial when he describes how the son would have loved to eat the disgusting food he was giving to the pigs. (Some scholars profess to be able to see signs of a hasty scribal attempt to clean it up). Working for a Gentile and playing servant to swine was the bottom of all possible Jewish barrels. 17 Nevertheless, when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! Luke's phrasing of how the young man "came to himself" is one of the few Semiticisms in this parable. It literally means, "to repent." 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ While the son's "confession" sounds contrite and genuine enough, a careful examination of the thought process that led him to this confession reveals only one clear motivating force: hunger. The son decides to return home and throw himself on his father's mercy only because he feels he is starving to death. 20 Therefore, he set off and went to his father. However, while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. The father's impetuous forgiveness of the approaching son may appear to offer the boy forgiveness without repentance. Nevertheless, the son had already privately voiced his change of heart and mind. The father's welcome and forgiveness (the embrace and the kiss) occur before the son's confession. Much kissing means much love, much forgiveness, full restoration, exceeding joy, overflowing comfort, strong assurance, and intimate communion.[5] 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ Even more telling is the fact that the earlier Masoretic text has the father cut the son's "confession" off midway, as he excitedly calls his servants to tend to the young man. 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Such gifts bear all marks of the son's fully restored place of honor and authority in the household.
Let us pause to consider what we have read. The failure of the younger son is total. He begins his failure by having his hand out toward his father, demanding his share of his inheritance now. Is he saying he wishes his father were dead? We do not know, but he might be. He is clearly violating the command to honor parents. He has placed himself among the “sinners” whom scribes and Pharisees accuse Jesus of befriending. He fails again when he goes to Gentile country and squanders or scatters his property by living a wild and undisciplined lifestyle. He departs far from a Jewish life, becoming a worker on a pig farm. Pigs were unclean for Jews (Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8). Sitting among the pigs, hungry and destitute, would qualify as a major fail. Yet, the pigsty becomes a place of personal insight or revelation. It becomes the setting for the event that would change his life. Notice, though, that at least initially it is more of a pragmatic decision than a penitential one. He is a hired hand to the pig farmer and gets nothing, so he figures that if he goes home, he can at least get hired on to the family business and get what the other servants are getting, which is way better than pig fodder. Yeah, he will have to do a mea culpa, but at least he will have a full belly. When the boy is still far from home, his dad spies him off in the distance. Setting aside his status as a patriarch and landowner, the father hikes up his robes, and sprints out to greet his son. I can imagine Jesus using some humor and acting this out. Yet, in the context of first century Judaism, the audience for this parable may have viewed the father as the largest failure. The father surrendered his property to a rebellious child. Running in public as he did was the height of undignified behavior for the patriarch of a family. To do so in order to embrace a son who has dishonored dad was even less dignified. The son had disowned himself from the family. We see no rebuke. We see no attempt to make sure the son has learned his lesson. We see no justice. Dad is a failure in the eyes of scribes and Pharisees. When the young man begins the speech, he had planned for this moment, his dad is not listening. Dad does not want to hear about his son's mistakes. He does not need the young man to debase himself. Instead, the father is overjoyed. The true treasure he had lost when his son left home has returned to him. Calling for robes, rings and fatted calves, the father demonstrates that he sees in his son treasure, not trash. The love of the father transforms the son. Many of us can put ourselves in the young man's place. We, too, have a voice inside of us that only wants to dwell on the garbage in our lives. We have made mistakes, and we hear repeatedly that, like a discarded bottle or can, whatever was of value inside of us we have already poured out. Nothing valuable remains. God is interested in redeeming creation, including human beings who have wasted their lives. God sees value in each of us, even when we are far away from God intended for our lives. God has not abandoned us. God has not tossed us aside. God loves us and knows our worth. When we turn toward God, God sprints toward us, embraces us, and welcome us home.
The father tells his servants to 23 get the fatted calf, symbolizing a truly special and festive occasion, and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ Moreover, they began to celebrate. The father's reaction is so overwhelmingly joyous, so unexpectedly elated, that the reader is rightly stunned. In verses 20-24, the emphasis of Paul on the goodness, grace, and favor of God shown in the Son continues the theme of the preaching of Jesus that by his message and in his work, the Father shows us the mercy that pardons our sins.[6] The meals Jesus held or shared characterized his coming and the conduct of his disciples. When he accepted invitations from others, he made known his readiness to grant fellowship with him to those who issued the invitation. The granting of acceptance of table fellowship by Jesus removed everything that separated people from God and his salvation. It meant the forgiveness of sins, so that table fellowship was a real symbol of fellowship with God and of participation in the future of the divine kingdom. The re-acceptance of the prodigal came to expression in the feast that the father prepared for him.[7] Preaching of the imminence of the rule of God opens up participation in eschatological salvation. In this fact, Jesus sees a demonstration of the love of God that seeks the lost, in keeping with the goodness of the Creator. The goodness of the Creator becomes saving love in the sending of Jesus to announce imminent divine rule, which we see in this parable at the saving of the lost. Forgiving love that has reached its goal finds expression in this joy.[8]
Jesus had a reputation of making friends with “sinners.” The reception that the son receives seems typical of Jesus, in that he commends throwing a party. The story represents the reconciliation of Judean with Judean. The central figure is the Father. Originally, Jesus may have intended a story of God's welcoming back a repentant person, not allowing the "faithful" elder brother to hinder that love.
However, no one had even gone to fetch this older son from the fields where he was working so that he might join in the festivities. The elder son is not yet a part of this celebration. In fact he does not even learn of it or of his brother's return until after he has finished his day's work in the fields. 25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. The invitation extended to the elder brother is important, for it offers the message of Jesus to the Jewish people. The anger of the elder son is instant. This son is so enraged that he will not even step foot in the house. Yet, we learn much about the father. The father’s love had driven him out of his house and down the road to welcome home his younger son. Now, the love the father feels for his older son again pulls him out the door and into the fields to be with him in his anger. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ The confrontational tone he takes with his father is neither respectful nor obedient. He clearly thinks his father has failed miserably as head of the household. Big brother wants justice and retribution on his brother. He even refuses to acknowledge his blood relationship to his brother, identifying him only as "this son of yours." The older son pours forth what we might call his "righteous indignation." The older brother is going to remind dad and his brother of past sins. He will remind them the boy is trash. Sadly, we may have people like that in our lives, who remind us of our failures. Too many churches have done this to people. One dimension of this story that receives little to no attention is that the younger brother also left the older brother, not just his father. The older brother has formed a resentful spirit toward his younger brother. I wonder if he ever pondered how lost he had become while he harbored such resentment in his mind and heart. Resentment is a deep form of becoming spiritually lost. Granted, the younger son is lost in a spectacular way. He gives in to us lust and greed. He uses women, gambles, and loses his money. His wrong-doing, his failure, is present for all to see. Eventually, even the younger son sees his failure. The problem with resentment is that its effect in moving us toward becoming spiritually lost is not so spectacular. Rather than being open for all to see, this form of a lost and wasted life can have the outward appearance of a holy life. Resentment sits deep within us. We are not conscious it is there. We think we are so good. In fact, however, resentment has brought us to a lost spiritual place in a very profound way. [9] Yet, the father does not listen to the elder son. 31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ” The father refuses to be shocked. His eyes and heart remain rigidly fixed on what he sees as the only important fact about this missing younger son - he is found, and he is alive. Dad treasures both sons. He invites the elder son to join the party. The father is inviting his older son to forgive his brother for abandoning them. The older brother lives in the prison of his resentment and needs liberation.[10] The older brother long ago could have practiced the art of forgiveness. While still acknowledging the hurt the younger brother caused, he could have wished his younger brother well.[11] In fact, he could have learned an important truth concerning love among human beings. Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look that becomes a habit.[12]
The story ends here, leaving a host of unanswered questions for the reader. What is most shocking about this parable is how it celebrates grace, even at the expense of justice. Like all good parables, we cannot contain the prodigal son story by just one explanation. The narrative takes its meaning and strength from the fact that it is a parable, a story, and as such invites others to participate in it. Fittingly, Luke's story closes with a typical parabolic ending -- which is to say "no ending." We leave the confrontation scene between father and son before hearing the son's response. It is the reader, therefore, who must provide the final reply to the father's invitation to rejoice and join the party.
Read the gospels and you see that Jesus had a habit of turning failures into the heroes of his stories. The “Good Samaritan” (a first-century oxymoron) in Luke 10 and the “Dishonest Manager” (Luke 16: 1-13) are just a couple of examples that frame this particular story in Luke. Jesus picked losers such as tax collectors to be his disciples. He partied with people who everyone in polite and pious society would have considered to be failures on a whole lot of levels. The parable of the loving father and his two sons was designed to invite self-righteous Pharisees and scribes to see how they had become the older brother, failing to experience the joy and celebration that God does when wayward sinners come home. But it was also designed to remind us all of the embarrassing lengths to which God, in the person of Jesus, would go to make that homecoming a reality.
This parable offers the church a chance to act as a worldwide "lost and found." It is the mission of the church to open its doors to all the lost souls in this life. The future of the church in a lost world is not to act like the elder brother and demand of people right actions or a proper realization of their lostness. The church's job is to put rings, robes and sandals on all those lost in their white puffy slippers, purple dresses and pink sneakers. The mission of the church is to speak to each lost traveler. Whether that traveler is lost in making a living, lost in a community's abandonment, lost in addiction, lost in loneliness, or lost in self-absorption, "come home, come home, come home to Jesus." Jesus does not end the story because this is a story that you finish yourself. Moreover, you are. I am betting that the one on whom the Father is waiting, the one whom he is begging to come in and party, is you.
God calls the people of God to join God in the work of redeeming people. God is all about redeeming sinners. Jesus illustrates the kind of love God has for the lost by the way Jesus lived in welcoming the sinner. Each of us are in the process of God redeeming us. Yet, our mission is to invite others to allow God to redeem them as well. Sadly, religious people have a temptation to label others in a way that suggests dismissal. In those days, labels like sinner, tax collector, Samaritan, adulterer, Gentile, and leper worked quite well. It also meant that they as religious people had no responsibility for them. They could keep a safe distance. We use labels to keep others at a distance as well. We might use labels like rich, poor, establishment, elite, status quo, the one-percent, and the list continues. We label and dismiss, whether in real life or social media. How long has it been since you had lunch with someone on the polar end of your own political or religious point of view? We seem fearful we might learn something! We cast them out, discard them, and consider them so much trash.
When we read the gospels, we find Jesus on the fringes where he meets those whom we might have tossed aside. There, Jesus heals lepers, forgives tax collectors, eats with sinners and welcomes a woman with a questionable reputation who came to a well in the middle of the day. There, Jesus loved a rich young man who lost himself in his possessions. Jesus loved the hardworking laborer of his day, the one who gained his livelihood by fishing. Jesus even loved the political activist who thought the system needed changing through violence. Be careful whom you might label and dismiss. Jesus might be there. Jesus is the redeemer of the treasure we often miss. He invites us to join him in this work.
I have resisted providing an allegorical interpretation. For example, some scholarship has sought to describe the elder brother as Luke's allegorical representative of Pharisaic Judaism. The testimonies by the father to his eldest indicate that the son is not simply a "stand-in" for Pharisaic Judaism. Consider verse 31 where the father promises he is "always with" him and that "all that is mine is yours." Nothing here is said about the son's personal need for a repentant attitude -- surely a requirement if he were simply an allegorical Pharisee. Further, the father challenges the older son, not about his self-righteousness, but about his lack of joy. The father's concern is the radical notion of joyous acceptance of the one who was "dead," who was "lost." The need for critical, holier-than-thou attitudes is not an explicit focus of Luke's text.
The roots of our term "prodigal" come from the Latin "prodigere" -- meaning to "drive forth or away" or to "waste." We can interpret it as either extravagant wastefulness or liberal generosity. While Luke himself does not call the younger son a "prodigal," the term certainly suits the actions this young man took when he "squandered his property." .
The prodigal son is a narrative enactment of the relentless, resourceful way God seeks us and keeps us. One strand of modernity believes that we are most fully ourselves when we are most detached from any values other than those we have personally chosen. Some forms of psychology, existentialism, and romanticism suggest as much. Human society is the blockage individuals face in gaining personal fulfillment. This story of the wayward son who comes home to a party suggests morality begins when we come home. "Your brother is home," or "Son, all that I have is yours."
I offer a brief concluding thought.
All of us have left home. In our leaving, we in some ways have denied the source of our lives in God. We have told God in subtle and not so subtle ways that we have no need of the home God has provided us. We turn our backs on God and go our way, thinking that we know what is best for us. Among the strange ways God relates to us is that we have the freedom to pursue what we think best for us. We lose our way because we think life is about us getting our way in competition with others. Yet, when we think what is best means leaving the love that God has for us, we put ourselves on a path that often leads to frustration and alienation from those we love and from God. We lose our way. We become confused as to how to find our way home.
What is home? Surely, home is more than a house. Home is the place where we reconcile with people and with God. The love of the Father embraces us even before we are ready to return. That love reached out to us before we knew how to reach out to God. We come home when we realize that life is about discovering the unique gift we have to offer others. We discover the joy of giving to others in sacrificial love. We discover the joy of meaningful relationships with others. Most of all, we discover the joy of a relationship with the Father.
[1] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume II, 331-32.
[2] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 285.
[3] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume I, 259.
[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume I, 422-23.
[5] Charles Spurgeon, “Many Kisses for Returning Sinners, or Prodigal Love for the Prodigal Son.” Sermon 2236.
[6] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume I, 433.
[7] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume III, 285.
[8] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume II, 331.
[9]― Henri Nouwen, From Fear to Love: Lenten Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, (Fenton, Missouri: Creative Communications for the Parish, 1998), 13-14.
[10] To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. ―Lewis B. Smedes.
[11] You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. ―Lewis B. Smedes.
[12] Peter Ustinov.
this is good. I wonder how far we go in accepting prodigals into our church. You mentioned, when we were together, that you would have to pause and consider if you were to allow a gay person to join the church. I wonder how this tex,t and your accurate take on it, applies to that situation. Seems to me all the prodigals, you, me, gays, even politicians are to welcomed into fall (table) fellowship. Lynn Eastman
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